Antitrust
A Wave of Acquisitions May Have Shielded Big Tech from Competition
According to a new study co-authored by Florian Ederer, the fraction of startups that are acquired has skyrocketed, eliminating many potential competitors of big tech firms.

When Corporate Acquisitions Affect Healthcare
Companies often purchase competitors, not to acquire their ideas and products, but to shut them down. A recent report raised questions about whether such an acquisition may be partially responsible for a shortage of ventilators in the United States.
Economic Competition in a Time of Crisis
What will the sudden economic shock mean for competition and antitrust policy? We asked Yale SOM’s Fiona Scott Morton, an economist who served in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, for her perspective.
Can Antitrust Enforcement Protect Digital Consumers?
More and more of our economic and social lives are being conducted through digital channels. Economist Fiona Scott Morton talks about how effective antitrust regulation and enforcement can ensure that consumers benefit from the next killer app.
Why ‘Breaking Up’ Big Tech Probably Won’t Work
Instead, argues Yale SOM’s Fiona Scott Morton, the government should exercise its regulatory powers to promote competition.
Three Questions: Prof. Florian Ederer on ‘Killer Acquisitions’
A recent lawsuit alleged that a billionaire investor bought the rights to a new drug just to eliminate a potential competitor. We asked Yale SOM's Florian Ederer to explain why a "catch-and-kill" merger can be damaging and what to do about the phenomenon.
Prof. Fiona Scott Morton Outlines Fixes for Healthcare Markets in Congressional Testimony
Prof. Scott Morton called a private healthcare system without competitive pressure “the worst of both worlds” in terms of costs.
Is Antitrust Enforcement Out of Date?
U.S. antitrust laws, Yale SOM’s Fiona Scott Morton says, were written when new technology meant “typewriters and buggy whips and bicycles.” She assembled a group of economists and legal scholars to examine areas in which enforcement is out of sync with a changing economy.
Do Companies Buy Competitors in Order to Shut Them Down?
A study co-authored by Yale SOM researchers Florian Ederer and Song Ma suggests that “killer acquisitions” by pharmaceutical companies are potentially limiting the number of new treatments available.
How Do You Enforce Antitrust Law in a Global Marketplace?
Professor Fiona Scott Morton, the former chief economist in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, on the state of global competition law.
Is antitrust law keeping up?
Can laws created to rein in the monopolies of the industrial age still work in the information age? After spending a year as the top antitrust economist at the U.S. Department of Justice, Professor Fiona Scott Morton describes the state of antitrust regulation today.